


i would have wandered the world in search of you

by ilovethisship



Series: Tumblr Prompts - Zaven [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Tumblr Prompt, anyway this is adorable, back in my wheelhouse with tons of swears, background Bellarke, i can't believe i wrote two fics in a row with only one swear, this one makes up for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 22:18:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15204650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovethisship/pseuds/ilovethisship
Summary: It's Zeke's birthday and he's had a pretty bad day. Luckily, he's got a pretty awesome girlfriend.





	i would have wandered the world in search of you

**Author's Note:**

> An anon on Tumblr requested this Zaven fic where Raven surprises Zeke with a pretty awesome birthday gift, with established Bellarke in the background. :) This was a lot of fun to write.

It’s been the longest fucking day. If Zeke had to rate today against all of his past birthdays, the only reason it wouldn’t be worse is because he had a shitty childhood. Objectively, his boss doesn’t suck, but there is something… lacking when it comes to his coworkers, to put it politely.

When he has bad days like this, he tries to remind himself that this job has brought amazing things into his life. If he didn’t have this job, he would never have met Clarke. The week they spent together while she was consulting on one of his projects bonded them, probably forever… partially because of their shared distaste for Paxton, partially because she’s just an all around decent person. She found out he was new in town, invited him out with her friends her last night on the project, not-so-subtly suggested that he sit next to Raven, and the rest is history.

If it weren’t for this shitty job, he wouldn’t be here, standing outside of Raven’s apartment, trying to push it all away so he can enjoy the party he’s already late for. But today sucked. Even thinking about how the best thing that ever happened to him is just on the other side of that door with all of their friends isn’t enough to pull him out of this mood. He’s just _tired_. Worn out. The idea of pretending that everything is okay for a few hours is even more exhausting.

“Hey! Happy birthday!” comes from the end of the hall.

Zeke’s head snaps to the side. Bellamy’s got a 24-pack of beer in one hand and a nicely wrapped box tucked under the other arm. He takes a deep breath and forces a smile. “Thanks, man. Need some help?”

“No way.” Bellamy shakes his head. “Murphy wanted her to send you on a beer run, but Raven insists that you’re doing nothing tonight. Plus, I’m late, too.”

“Work?”

“I dropped Madi off at a sleepover, but first we had to spend an hour at Target.”

Zeke nods at the gift. “Last minute present shopping?”

Bellamy laughs and stops next to Zeke, setting the case of beer down. “Madi thought her sleeping bag was too childish. Preteens are fun.”

Zeke laughs, but his heart isn’t quite in it. “I’m surprised she didn’t convince you guys to bring her here, instead.”

“Oh, no way. This sleepover is apparently the social event of the season.” Bellamy’s brow furrows and he claps Zeke on the shoulder. “Everything alright?”

Zeke shoves his hands in his pockets, trying to decide how much to say. There’s no real way to say ‘I’m incredibly grateful that my amazing girlfriend is throwing me a birthday party, but I would rather be at home right now’ without sounding like an ass.

“It was just a long day at work,” is what he settles on.

“We should have waited until next weekend.”

“No, it’s okay.” He pulls his hands out of his pockets and holds his arms out to either side. “I’m just out here preparing myself to kick everyone’s ass at flip cup.”

“God, you shouldn’t even be allowed to play.” Bellamy laughs again and picks up the beer. “You ready to go in?”

Zeke takes a quiet breath and opens the door. Bellamy goes in first and makes his way toward the kitchen. The man barely has time to put everything down before Clarke launches herself into his arms and kisses him hard. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that he and Raven have technically been dating longer than Bellamy and Clarke have. Zeke only knew them for a couple months before they finally got together. It would have been a lot more frustrating if he had to deal with how stupid they were about each other for years.

He scans the room for his own girlfriend. When he finds her, his mouth goes dry, because _fuck_ , she looks amazing. She’s got her hair pulled back, exposing her neck, but it’s the short black dress that’s really killing him. Combined with the red leather jacket he bought her for _her_ birthday, she’s got him weak in the knees and he hasn’t even said hello yet.

As if on cue, she turns her head and catches him staring. Her small smile morphs into a grin. It still makes his heart skip a beat, the way she looks at him, and for a second, he forgets about his awful day. Emori whispers something into her ear. Raven laughs, shaking her head, and makes her way toward him. Zeke waits, taking the opportunity to take her in as she crosses the room. He still can’t believe that he found someone like her, that she loves him, that he is _this fucking lucky_.

“Hey.” She wraps her arms around his neck and his hands automatically go to her hips. “Happy birthday.”

He leans in for a quick kiss. “You said that this morning.”

“I have free rein with the phrase until midnight.” She kisses him again. “They kept you late today.”

When he nods, not wanting to elaborate, she frowns. Before she can say anything, he tugs on he hem of her jacket. “You look good tonight.”

She narrows her eyes at him, calculating, studying. “Who do I need to kill?”

“No one!” She raises her eyebrows at him and he laughs, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m serious, Rae. Things are fine. You planned an awesome party. And I believe I was promised flip cup?”

For a minute, he thinks that she’s going to push. She’s clearly annoyed by the deflection. But finally, she rolls her eyes and grabs his hand. “Fine. You and Bellamy need to catch up to the rest of us anyway.”

* * *

Normally, kicking Murphy’s ass at Mario Kart is a major mood booster. Murphy and Bellamy like to pretend that Zeke has better hand-eye coordination than they do because he used to be a pilot. It might be true, but it’s more fun to hear Raven tell them to stop looking for excuses. Unfortunately, none of it really pulls him out of the mood he’s in.

He tries. He really does. And it’s not that he’s not having fun, because he is. They play games, they eat cake, and it’s hilarious to watch Clarke’s colossal win against Monty in Battle Shots. (She’s really the only one of these people he’s scared to challenge.) He loves Raven and he loves these people, but it’s hard not to keep an internal countdown to the end of the party.

“I’d like to give you your present,” Raven whispers from behind him while Bellamy and Murphy start to set up the board for their own game.

“Now? In front of all of these people?”

She sighs and yanks him away from the group. “It’s not that kind of present.”

Zeke pulls her back into his chest and kisses her behind her ear. “Well, that’s all the proof I needed.”

“For what?”

“You wore this dress to try to kill me.”

“Get a room!” Clarke shouts from behind them.

Raven laughs and pulls away, grabbing his hand again. But instead of pulling him further into the apartment, she leads him outside.

“Where are you taking me?”

“The parking garage.”

“You left my present in the car?”

She shrugs and tugs on his hand again. She’s bouncing on her toes in the elevator, brimming with excitement. When the doors open, she pushes him out by the shoulders and then covers his eyes.

“Get the door.”

“I’m blind, Raven.”

She scoffs. “The handle is right in front of you. Stop trying to take the fun out of this.”

“So bossy.” Zeke can’t help but smile as he fumbles for the door handle.

“Well, I found the perfect present,” she explains as she leads him through the garage. “But I couldn’t wrap it. You’re hard to shop for, you know?”

“I told you that you were gift enough for me.”

“Gross.” But he can hear the smile in her voice. “Okay, hold on.” She turns him around. “Wait, give me your hands?” He covers her hands with his and she slides hers out, covering his and turning him around again. “Keep your eyes covered for just a second, okay?”

“Got it.”

“I know you’ve had a shitty day, even if you won’t say it.” She’s trying to talk over a rustling noise and the momentary guilt he feels is overwhelmed by curiosity. “But I’m really glad that you still came tonight, because…. Okay. You can look.”

Zeke lowers his hands and he… is speechless. Raven’s standing next to a Harley, but he’s not exactly sure what it means. It could almost be the twin to his old bike, but it’s a green and his was black. There’s no way she did this. It would be too much.

“You said it was a Sportster SuperLow, right?” She runs a hand along the seat. “We know you had to get rid of your old one when you joined the Air Force. It’s not the same year, but you won’t believe how hard it is to find—”

“Did you buy this?” he finally manages to get out, interrupting her.

“Built it, but you know.” She shrugs. “With my skills, it’s pretty much the same thing.”

 _Or better._ His feet are still glued to the ground, because this is crazy. There is nothing he has done in this life to deserve anything like this. Like her. It’s….

“Raven, this is too much.”

She waves dismissively. “First of all, everyone chipped in. Also,” she pauses, walking up to him and pulling him closer by the collar. She stops about an inch from his lips and whispers, “Don’t think that I don’t know what this jacket cost you.”

Zeke laughs and tries to kiss her, but she ducks out of the way and returns to the bike. She swings a leg over the seat and honestly, Raven in that dress on what is apparently _his_ bike is a visual that he’s never going to be able to get out of his head. It’s the hottest thing he’s ever seen.

Instead of arguing more, because he would lose, he finally approaches the bike and hops onto the seat behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He plants a kiss behind her ear and another one on her neck. He had an absolutely shitty day, but when it comes down to it, there is nowhere he’d rather be than here.

“I love you,” he mumbles into her shoulder.

“I know.” She runs one of her hands down his leg and squeezes his knee. “I love you, too.”


End file.
